Frankenstein Is Not The Name Of The Monster In Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly’s Book: Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus
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Frankenstein is not the name of the monster in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly’s book: Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus. Frankenstein is the name of the doctor that creates him: Dr. Victor Frankenstein. This common mistake is understandable because the monster does not have a name. According to Wikipedia1 the monster is variously referred to as: creature, fiend, the dæmonA, wretch, devil, thing, being, and ogre in the novel. In the novel, there are many allusions to the monster and the Biblical AdamB, C, D. But alas the monster has no name.
Wikipedia1 has a well written take on the utter lack of name for the monster:
The monster’s namelessness became part of the stage tradition as Mary Shelley’s story was adapted into serious and comic plays in London, Paris, and France during the decades after the novel’s first appearance. Mary Shelley herself attended a performance of Presumption, the first successful stage adaptation of her novel. “The play bill amused me extremely, for in the list of dramatic personae came, _______ by Mr T. Cooke,” she wrote her friend Leigh Hunt. “This nameless mode of naming the unnameable is rather good.”
Into this vacuum, it is understandable that the name of the creator—Frankenstein—would soon be used to name the creation. That mistake was made within the first decade after the novel was published, but it became cast in concrete after the story was popularized in the famous 1930s Universal film series starring Boris Karloff. The film was based largely on a play by Peggy Webling, performed in London in 1927. Curiously, Webling’s Frankenstein actually does give his creature his name. The Universal film reverted to the empty cypher, however: the film’s credits list the character Karloff plays as a question mark. Nevertheless, the creature soon enough became best known in the popular imagination as “Frankenstein”.
Poor Frankenstein’s Monster, even if you don’t have a name, we love you. Even Robert Deniro could not diminish your greatness.
Random Facts
- The first Frankenstein film was produced by Thomas Edison in 19102
- Written in Switzerland, 1816, and London, 1816–1817, originally published January 1, 1818 by Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones3
- The Superman Monster is an Elseworlds tale, combining the elements of the Superman mythos with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It was written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, was pencilled by Anthony Williams, and was published by DC Comics in 1999. – Quoth Wikipedia nevermore
- Internet Movie Database list over ninety movie and television appearances of “Frankenstein’s Monster” including the following variations on the name: El Monstruo, Frank N. Stein’s Monster, Frankenstein Monster, Frankenstein Monster in Dream Sequence, Frankenstein’s Creature, Frankenstein’s Monster, Frankenstein’s monster, Kid Frankenstein’s Monster, La creatura di Frankenstein, Monster, Monstruo, Monstruo de Frankestein, The ‘Creature’, The Creature, The Frankenstein Monster, The Monster
Further Reading
- Frankenstein, or Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley – Project Gutenberg: Gutenberg.org
- Download the free human-read Audio Book: Frankenstein, or Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
- If you have never heard of Project Gutenberg it is awesome, you can get the full text in various versions, even the audio.
- Internet Archive: Free Download: Frankenstein, or, The modern Prometheus: Archive.org
- You can get the novel in full text, PDF or DjVu.
- Quit using Adobe, it is too slow, too large and has to much of a footprint: Use Fox It instead, you computer will thank you.
- I have not heard of DjVu file, it apparently a file format for scanned documents, it is smaller than PDFs and JPEGs.
- Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley – Read Print: ReadPrint.com
- Full text of novel, just prettier
- Frankenstein Summary & Study Guide – Mary Shelley – eNotes.com
- More than you ever wanted to know about Frankenstein
- FrankensteinFilms.com “ The Frankenstein Movie and Monster Horror Film Site “ From Mary Shelley to Boris Karloff, Peter Cushing, Kenneth Branagh
- Very cool website, impressive in scope and research.
- Frankenstein: Homework Help and Book Summary – CliffsNotes: CliffsNotes.com
- Who really has time to read? Don’t be stupid read a book, read the Cliff Notes to see if your right.
- Literature.org – The Online Literature Library
- Full text of novel, bare bones
References
Footnotes
- A – Æ – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Wikipedia.org
- I didn’t know what that fancy lettering was so I looked it up and I still don’t understand. According to Wikipedia: Æ (minuscule: æ) is a grapheme formed from the letters a and e. Originally a ligature representing a Latin diphthong, it has been promoted to the full status of a letter in the alphabets of many languages. As a letter of the Old English alphabet, it was called æsc ‘ash tree’ after the Anglo-Saxon futhorc rune which it transliterated; its traditional name in English is still ash (IPA: /æʃ/). [Editors Note: WHAT?!?!?!?]
- B – Chapter 10: “Be calm! I entreat you to hear me before you give vent to your hatred on my devoted head. Have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery? Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it. Remember, thou hast made me more powerful than thyself; my height is superior to thine, my joints more supple. But I will not be tempted to set myself in opposition to thee. I am thy creature, and I will be even mild and docile to my natural lord and king if thou wilt also perform thy part, the which thou owest me. Oh, Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other and trample upon me alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy clemency and affection, is most due. Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.”
- C - Chapter 15: “But Paradise Lost excited different and far deeper emotions. I read it, as I had read the other volumes which had fallen into my hands, as a true history. It moved every feeling of wonder and awe that the picture of an omnipotent God warring with his creatures was capable of exciting. I often referred the several situations, as their similarity struck me, to my own. Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect. He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial care of his Creator; he was allowed to converse with and acquire knowledge from beings of a superior nature, but I was wretched, helpless, and alone. Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition, for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me.
- D – Chapter 15: “I endeavoured to crush these fears and to fortify myself for the trial which in a few months I resolved to undergo; and sometimes I allowed my thoughts, unchecked by reason, to ramble in the fields of Paradise, and dared to fancy amiable and lovely creatures sympathizing with my feelings and cheering my gloom; their angelic countenances breathed smiles of consolation. But it was all a dream; no Eve soothed my sorrows nor shared my thoughts; I was alone. I remembered Adam’s supplication to his Creator. But where was mine? He had abandoned me, and in the bitterness of my heart I cursed him
- Shakespearean Misquotes: William Shakespeare’s Oft MisQuoted Lines
- “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well”, “Bubble bubble, toil and trouble”, “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend me your ears”, “Lead on, Macduff”, “Methinks the lady doth protest too much”, “To gild the lily” You have heard them, you have said them, they are misquoted. Get the truth.
- Frankenstein Is Not The Name Of The Monster In Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly’s Book: Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus
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